A Shot in the Dark
by CelticStar87
Summary: Samantha Flack and Jen McCallahan go missing and the team have no real leads. Don hasn't spoken to his sister in months and he's been depressed. When Jen tried to help he threw beer in her face. Will the team find the women in time or will Don have to face losing his sister and the woman he's known since childhood? Can he survive losing two more people he cares about?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so here's another CSI:NY featuring Det. Don Flack. This reads kind of like an episode. The the first two chapters are short but that's because that's where I saw the break in the story. The 4th chapter is the longest and (for now) is the last. I've been typing up stories that I've hand-written and are complete instead of working on ones that aren't complete. Still working on that writer's block mansion... I think I'm adding an extension. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. R&R please and thank you! :)  
**

**Oh, I don't own anything to do with the series. There is an appearance of Criminal Minds SSA Aaron Hotchner. He has a minor role but nothing to warrant this being a cross-over. Again, I hope you enjoy.  
**

* * *

"Don, talk to me." The pub owner sat down.

"I'm fine." His darkened eyes glared at her.

"No you're not. You've been in here every night for the past couple of months. You are anything but 'fine'." Her blue-green eyes showed concern for the man sitting across from her.

"Leave me alone, Cailin." His eyes darted to the window as a familiar face came into view.

"Fine; sit here and let whatever it is eat away at you until there's nothing left. Not even your friends." She stood up and headed back to the bar. "Hey, Messer." She greeted the man who had walked into the pub.

"How long had he been here?"

"Too long. Danny, I'm worried about him; he's changed. Ever since Angell's death…"

"I know, Jen, we're all worried about him. He's not talking?" Danny sat down on a stool.

"Not a word." She looked over at Don, who was staring at nothing in particular. "Well, except for 'I'm fine' and 'Leave, me alone, Cailin.' Other than that; not a word." She looked back at Danny.

"He used your middle name?"

"Yeah. He hasn't used my middle name like that since we were kids." Jen looked at a picture behind her. It was taken years ago: her brother, herself and a young Don and Samantha Flack. She took it down. "It seems like a lifetime ago. Does he even talk to Samantha?"

"I don't think so. They had a falling out a couple of years ago. I don't think they've said more than a few words to each other since." Danny glanced at Don. "Why do you ask?"

"Sam and I talk almost every day. Okay, not almost… we talk every day."

"And?" He wasn't seeing the point.

"I haven't heard from her in two days. Something doesn't feel right." Jen looked at Danny; worry clear in her eyes. "I tried to file a missing person's report but the officer I talked to said that she was probably in some bar somewhere. He brushed me off after that; I don't remember his name."

"I'll look into it. You should mention something to Don, though." He stood up and was about to leave when Jen stopped him.

"Alright, but can you wait? I don't know how he's going to react." He nodded and Jen walked over to Don.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone?" He glared at her briefly before looking out the window again.

"Have you heard from Sam recently?" She sat across from him.

"No." He stiffened and looked at her. The darkness in his eyes scared her. "Why?"

"Sam and I talk every day. I haven't seen or heard from her in two days."

"So what? She's probably in some bar somewhere." He looked back out the window and then glared at her. He was urging her to leave.

"Yeah? That's what the cop said when I tried to file a missing person's report. I don't believe that for a second. Sam was trying to pull her life back together; you'd know that if you talked to her." Don threw his beer in her face.

"Leave me alone!" He spat.

"No problem. I'm done with you, Flack." She stood up, fighting the tears, and headed to the restroom.

"That was too far, Don! Your sister could be in trouble. You need help." Danny laid into Don and then stood outside the restroom. "Jen, are you alright?" He asked when she came out.

"Yes, I'm fine. Find Sam, Danny. I know she's in trouble; I can feel it." She was close to tears.

"Of course. Call me if you hear anything." He squeezed her shoulder.

"I will, thanks." She smiled a little. "Night. Tell Lindsay I said 'hello'." She headed back to the bar as Danny left.

"Jen, go home. We're slowing down; go home." Mike, the bar manager, said.

"Alright. Just keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't get killed." Jen grabbed her jacket and headed out of the pub. She didn't see it coming, and before she could react, she was out cold. When she woke up, she found herself in a dank, dirty, abandoned warehouse. But she wasn't alone.

"Jen?" A woman Jen's age crawled over to her.

"Sam?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Danny Messer." Danny answered his phone.

"This is Mike Johnson. I work at Shamrock Pub. You're a friend of Jen McCallahan's, right?"

"Yeah? What's going on?" Danny held his hand up to silence Don when he walked into the room. "Is she alright?"

"I haven't seen or heard from her in two days. She's not answering her cell or home phone. I've gone over to her apartment but she's not answering the door. This isn't like her; even when her brother was murdered…"

"Alright, I'll look into it. Thanks for letting me know." Danny hung up.

"What's up?" Don asked. Danny dialed a number.

"Mac, we need to add another person to that case. Jen McCallahan has gone missing." Danny watched as his words hit Don. "Yeah, he's right here. We're on our way." Danny hung up and looked at Don.

"How long?"

"At least 48 hours. Mac's heading over to your sister's place. He wants us over there. She's been missing for at least four days."

"Is there any connection?" Don regretted the way he'd treated Jen the other night at the pub. He was hoping to get a chance to apologize.

"Maybe, but we still don't know much." They headed to Sam's apartment. It was a mess.

"It looks like there's been a struggle." Mac said when they entered the apartment. "Don, you and Danny head over to Jen's apartment and let me know what you find."

"Alright." Danny agreed. Don couldn't believe what he was seeing. When they got to Jen's apartment it was clear that if she was kidnapped it didn't happen there.

"No, there's no sign of a struggle here, Mac." Don said as they searched the apartment. As they entered the kitchen they noticed that a bag of dog food had been ripped open.

"Siberia." Danny called. He had forgotten about Jen's dog. "Here, girl!" He whistled. They heard the sound of four paws heading their way. Don knelt down as the half Siberian husky, half wolf came around the corner.

"Hey, girl." Don petted her as she came to him. She whimpered. They looked the Jen's mail and other paperwork to see if they could find any clues that would tell them what happened. "I don't see anything."

"Neither do I. Mike said that she headed home shortly after you…"

"Threw beer on her." Don looked at Danny.

"And it doesn't look like she's been here since before work that day. So she disappeared on her way home."

"She takes the same route every night. We may catch something on surveillance." Don said and then called Mac and told him

"Alright, here's all the surveillance footage I got from the cameras around Jen's route." Adam said as the team gathered in the A/V room.

"Let's take it one at a time." Mac said and they got to work.

"I'm not seeing anything, but what I can tell you is that she was abducted around here." Don pointed at a group of businesses about two blocks from the pub.

"Are you sure?" Jo Danville asked.

"Her apartment is four blocks from the pub; it doesn't take her more than 20 minutes walking. She should have appeared in this camera no more than 10 minutes after she left this camera; but she never appears."

"Let's see if any of those businesses have cameras facing the street; maybe they caught something. Call that bank and see about the ATM camera." Mac said.

"Mac, there was a man on line one. He said he works for a law firm on 35th. They had suspicions that someone was casing the place so they went through their security footage. He's sending the file to us now; he said that we might want to see it for ourselves." Sheldon Hawks came into the room.

"Adam, open it." Mac said as soon as the file came through. "Freeze it there."

"He took her by surprise; knocked her out cold. Can we get a plate? Anything?" Don asked.

"Let's see what we get." Adam made a few adjustments. "'L1'. That's it; it looks to be the first two characters in the license plate. I'll run them along with the make and model. Hopefully, we'll get something."

"Let me know what you get. Let's process what we collected from Samantha's apartment. Maybe we'll get a usable print or something that will lead us in the right direction. Don, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Jen and/or your sister?" Mac looked at him as the team go to work.

"I haven't spoken to Sam recently and I can't think of anyone who'd want to hurt Jen. My sister hasn't had the best luck in life; there's no telling if or who she's crossed." He shook his head.

"Could it be someone connected to Alex?" Danny asked, thinking about Jen's brother.

"If so, wouldn't they have gone after Jen first?" Lindsay replied.

"Let's process the evidence and see where that puts us." Mac repeated. "Don, are you sure you want on this case?"

"Yes. I'm going to head back to the precinct and see if I can find anything out. Maybe, I'll head over to the pub and talk to Mike."

"Alright, call me when you head to the pub."

"Sure, Mac." Don headed to the precinct with Siberia as the rest of the team started processing the evidence they collected from Sam's apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

_-warehouse-_

"How long have we been here?" Sam asked as they huddled together in a corner.

"I've been here two days, which means you've been here about four. Somebody will find us, Sam. We're going to be alright." Jen tried to sound convincing. She hoped that someone was looking for them. Darkened baby blue eyes flashed in her mind. She closed her eyes in response and felt the moisture of tears form. _"No problem. I'm done with you, Flack."_ Her words echoed in her ears. It was a lie. She'd never be done caring about Don Flack; not completely. Not when she's been in love with him since they were kids.

"Don won't notice I'm gone. He may notice that you're gone, though." Sam sounded hopeful.

"If the other night was any indication; no he won't. Mike will and he'll call Danny." Jen tried to focus on the here and now; she focused on what she needed to do so that they'd survive whatever was planned for them.

-_flashes to Mac's office-_

"It's been a week since Sam went missing and there's been no contact; no ransom demand." Don was sitting in Mac's office. "Every lead we get is a dead end. I'm losing hope, Mac. We have no clue who has them or why. In most of these cases, what's the outcome?" He looked run down. He hadn't been sleeping well. Between his fears of losing his sister, Jen's face flashing across his mind, and Siberia's whimpering it hadn't been easy to find sleep.

"The victim usually ends up dead. That's not going to happen, Don, we're going to find them."

"What if we don't?"

"Jen is strong and she's smart. She'll play the game to survive and she'll get Sam to do the same. We'll find them." Mac said.

"Mac, Don, I just got a hit on a finger print lifted from Sam's apartment." Lindsay came into the office. "I was finally able to convince the FBI to let us use their database. According to their file on this guy: this is all a game to him; he gets off on keeping women captive just to see if they're smart enough to win his game."

"And if they're not?" Don wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"He kills them. He tends to keep them in abandon warehouses. Usually in pairs and the women are usually close friends."

"That's why he took Jen. Sam has pictures of the two of them around her apartment." Don pointed out.

"Do we have a name?" Mac asked.

"No. All we have is several dozen cases with fingerprints and MO connecting them. There haven't been any survivors yet."

"This time will be different. He made the mistake of choosing Jen. She'll know what to do. He also made the mistake of crossing the NYPD." Mac stated.

_-flashes to warehouse-_

"Jen, what's going to happen to us?" Sam was cold, hungry, and getting weaker.

"Nothing. We're going to make it out of here." Jen was more hopeful. She had pieced together enough to know that there was no personal connection between them and the man who had abducted them. It was all just a game to him, and so far they had the upper hand. The last challenge had left the man frustrated. There was no doubt that his next task would be harder

"I don't think I can continue."

"Yes you can, Samantha. You have to. Think about Don. Think about what would happen to me if you give up. Don't you see that these 'games' are a test of our friendship? We've got to keep going. If you die, I die. I'm not going to let you die. We've been through a lot over the years." Jen hugged Sam as the door opened.

_-flashes back to Mac's office-_

"According to the FBI, this guy is testing the women's friendship. As long as they use teamwork, they'll survive. He'd never kept them longer than a few days. I'm guessing one of the women gave up or turned against the other." Jo had spoken with her ex-husband about this.

"How strong is their friendship?" Sheldon asked Don.

"Like sisters. They've been close since day one. Jen won't let Samantha give up and Samantha won't let Jen give up. I've never known them to not speak to each other. They may get mad at each other but it usually blows over in an hour." Don replied. Even though he knew Sam and Jen were more like sisters than friends, he still didn't want to get his hopes up.

"That may be why they haven't turned up yet. We've got to find them though. Nobody's been able to beat his game so we don't know if he'll let them live or not." Danny said. That's why Don didn't want to get his hopes up; until Sam and Jen were safe, he wasn't going to let his guard down.

_-flashes back to warehouse-_

"Sam?" Jen shook her awake. They'd been given some food and water as a prize for winning that last round. It had now been one week since Jen had been abducted and she was starting to lose hope of ever getting out.

"Jen, what's next?" Sam noticed the gun laying on top of a note.

"'There's one bullet. Whose name is on it?'" Jen read the note out loud. They looked at the gun. "I have an idea." Jen took the gun. "He's probably waiting nearby. He's going to come in as soon as he hears a gun shot. Even at night, I can hit my mark. This popper, I saved from another task, will sound like gunfire in this room. When I throw it, you'll need to act dead. I can hit my mark." Jen whispered. She waited till the moment was just right and set her plan into motion. Sam played her part to the 'T' and as Jen predicted their captor entered the room. Gunfire rang through the empty warehouse as a spark from the gun lit up Jen's face. She had timed it so that the sun would illuminate the warehouse not long after she fired the gun. She looked towards the door. He wasn't moving. "Sam, stay here."

"Jen?"

"I'm going to check. Be ready for anything." Jen cautiously approached the man. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sam move. She was holding what looked to be a piece of a pipe. As Jen got closer, she noticed that she had, indeed, hit her mark. There was a bullet hole right between the eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

_-Crime Lab conference room-_

"We still have nothing." Mac was sitting in the conference room. Don was staring out the window. "How is it that we have nothing solid to go on?" He sounded frustrated.

"We've gone over everything at least twice and there are no new leads." Danny said. They all flinched when Don hit the wall with his fist.

"There's no hope." He sounded defeated; and he looked it too.

"Don't say that. Their bodies haven't shown up yet so they must still be alive. He always makes sure that the bodies are discovered as soon as possible." Lindsay said. She was trying to be optimistic about the case.

"Let's go through everything again. Maybe there's something we missed." Mac said. He was starting to feel hopeless too. They needed something to make them feel like they were doing something to find Samantha and Jen. They headed to process the evidence again.

_-warehouse-_

"Is he dead?" Sam asked as she came up beside Jen. Jen knelt down to check his pulse.

"Yeah, he's dead." Jen felt hopeful that they were that much closer to being home. She searched his body and found another gun and ammunition for the revolver he had given to them. She grabbed all of it and handed the other gun to Sam. "Just in case; we're not out of the woods yet."

"Can we get out of here?" Sam took the weapon. They headed for the door. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea." Jen looked around. "It looks like an old industrial section of the city. Maybe there's a map or something in his car." Jen approached the car cautiously; she was still on high alert, ready for anything to happen. She tried the door. "Locked." She pulled out the set of keys she had taken from the body. They searched the car for a map or something that would tell them where they were.

"No map, no cell phone. The car doesn't start. How are we getting out of here?" Sam sat down.

"We'll follow the tire treads. Come on." Jen had noticed the tire treads in the mud. She remembered that it had rained overnight. "We'll go until it gets too dark and then we'll rest." There was a duffle bag with more ammo and a flashlight. Jen also grabbed the couple of bottles of oil that were in the trunk. "I'll use this to mark our path." They started walking, hoping that they were heading in the right direction. Jen would make an arrow pointing the way to the warehouse every once and a while. When it got too dark, they rested.

"How much farther till we get somewhere with a phone?" Sam asked the next morning.

"Hopefully no too much longer." They continued walking the direction they started yesterday. "There's the Brooklyn Bridge!" Jen pointed to the landmark in the distance.

"It seems so far away." Sam replied. "But at least we know which direction to go in."

"Yes, but it also tells us that we could be in a rough section. We could still be in a lot of danger." Jen was hopeful, but still on guard. She made another arrow at the corner and they headed for the bridge.

_-Mac's office-_

"The longer it's been, the less hopeful I am, Mac." Don was sitting in Mac's office again. All units had been told to be on the lookout for Samantha Flack and Jen McCallahan. The news stations and papers were running their pictures.

"I know, Don, but I'm not giving up. Not until they're back safe or down in the morgue." Mac replied.

"I just want the chance to make things right. Sam and I haven't been close in a long time. I wasn't so nice to Jen the last time I saw her. She tried to tell me that she thought Sam was in trouble but I wouldn't listen. I threw beer in her face. I'm just afraid that I won't get the chance to apologize."

"She's already forgiven you for that." Mac said.

"How can you know that? How can you be so sure of that?" Don looked at Mac.

"Because she loves you. She's been in love with for as long as I've known her; probably longer. She stepped aside when you were with Jessica because she knew you how happy you were. It hurt her to see the two of you together but she hid it from you and everybody else… at least she thought she did. If anyone was watching, they would have seen the way she'd excuse herself when you and Jess came in." Mac watched as Don thought about what he just said. Don was silent as he thought back to how Jen acted around him and Jessica. He now remembered that, though she seemed friendly enough, she never did stay in the room for very long.

"I always just thought that it really was business that she needed to attend to." What Mac said could be true, but if it was, it did not make the situation any easier.

"My guess, it got to be too much for her to be in the same room. We're going to find them."

_-Jen and Sam on the street-_

"Maybe we'll find help here." Jen said as they neared a church.

"It looks abandoned." Sam replied. It did; the windows were dark and the whole street seemed empty.

"Come on, we'll at least find shelter." Jen grabbed Sam's hand as they entered the old church. As they entered, they noticed that it wasn't abandoned; it was empty but it was clean and there were lit candles on the altar.

"Can we sit? Maybe someone will come in." Sam pulled Jen towards the nearest seat. They relaxed as the warmth from the building sank in.

"Miss?" Jen was being shaken. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. "Miss, are you two alright?" Jen looked into a pair of friendly brown eyes. "I've called the paramedics. Is there anyone else I should call?"

"My brother, Detective Don Flack." Sam said as Jen closed her eyes again. Sam looked around and noticed that it was lighter outside. "How long have we been here?" She looked at the lady.

"Almost a day; I noticed the two of you last night. I didn't want to disturb you. I thought you were both so tired when I came in this morning that I left you alone again. I went to lunch and noticed that both of you were in the paper. Apparently, the police have been looking for you two for over a week now?" Sam nodded. She was tired and could hear sirens in the distance as she closed her eyes again.

_-the Precinct-_

"Don, they've been found!" Mac called Don. "They're in a church on the other side of the bridge. The pastor's wife called it in a little after 1:00pm."

"I'm on my way!" Don jumped out of his chair and headed to the address of the church. Danny and Mac pulled in at the same time he did. The EMTs were bringing Jen out as they headed into the church.

"You were the woman who called it in?" Mac approached the woman who was now standing with her husband.

"Yes. I didn't know who they were last night. They came in sometime between 6:00pm and 8:00pm. They were sound asleep when we left at 8:00 and when we got here around 9:00 this morning. It was after I returned from lunch that I called 911. I had glanced at a newspaper while I was out and recognized the women."

"Did you touch any of these things?" Danny was standing by the bag and coats.

"No. I tried to wake the one lady up. She opened her eyes briefly but didn't say anything. The other one said that I should call her brother, Detective Don Flack. She seemed more alert than the other. I hope they'll be alright."

"Thank you." Mac said. The couple headed outside.

"This gun had been fired recently. There are two sets of usable prints. The bag is full or ammo, another gun, a flashlight, and two bottles of motor oil." Danny said.

"Motor oil?" Don asked.

"Yep, and one's empty." Danny answered as he bagged the evidence. They headed outside.

"Adam just ran the prints you sent him. One set matched the unknown male from Sam's apartment. The other set belongs to Jen. She's the one who pulled the trigger." Mac looked between Danny and Don.

"What's this?" Don looked at the arrow on the sidewalk. "That looks like motor oil." He, Mac, and Danny followed the direction the arrow was pointing in. "They're leading us somewhere." Don, Mac, Danny, and several uniforms followed the arrows back to the warehouse.

"I think we have our primary crime scene." Mac said as they entered the warehouse. "Call the ME."

"Could that be the guy?" Danny asked as they noticed the body.

"Right between the eyes; she never misses her target." Don said.

"She was standing way over here when she fired." Danny said, standing a good distance away from the body. "She must have taken the shell casing out of the gun and left it here."

"There's a bunch of notes here. The one on top says 'There's one bullet. Whose name is on it?' I'm guessing this one was the last challenge." Don picked up a stack of paper and handed it to Mac.

"The FBI are on their way." Sheldon said when he entered the room. "I'd say he's been dead for about two days. I'd roughly estimate just after sunrise; it was probably still dark in here." Sheldon looked at the windows. "He didn't see it coming."

"Who shoots that good?" An FBI agent walked in. "A sniper?"

"She wasn't a sniper, but she was taught how to shot by a former Marine sniper." Don said as he remembered Jen's stories of her summers spent in Washington, D.C.

"Where are the women?" The agent asked. "I'm Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, by the way. I'm with the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit out of Quantico."

"They've been taken to the hospital. One is responsive but the other is not. I'm heading there now, if you'd like to come." Don replied.

"Don, they're going to be fine. She's going to be fine. She survived this; she's a fighter." Mac looked at Don. "Don't go to the hospital as a cop; go there as a brother and a friend."

"Thanks, Mac." Don left with Agent Hotchner.

"What did he mean by that?" Hotchner asked as they neared the hospital.

"One of the women is my sister. The other I've known since childhood." They pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"Hey, Don. Sam's awake but there's been no response from Jen." Lindsay met them at the nurse's station. "This way." Don and Hotchner followed her to Sam's room.

"Don? What took you so long?" Sam asked as she spotted her brother.

"We found the warehouse." Don approached the bed. "How are you feeling, Samantha?" He could see that she was still a little shaken.

"Better. How's Jen? She didn't look so good earlier. Please tell me she's going to be alright."

"Shhh…" Don held his sister. "Lindsay said she's still unresponsive. I don't know how she is, Sam."

"Don't let her give up. She didn't let me give up; don't let her give up."

"I won't. I promise." Don hugged Sam tighter before letting go. "I'm sorry I haven't been there for you."

"That's alright, Don." She smiled at him and then looked at the man standing by the door.

"This is Agent Hotchner with the FBI. He'd like to ask you some questions."

"Sure. Don, go to her. She needs you. I'll be fine." Don did as she said. His heart stopped as he entered Jen's room.

"How is she?" He asked the doctor in the room.

"She's stable. Lindsay processed her already but she isn't responding. Hopefully, she'll keep fighting." Doctor Hunter left the room.

"Jen?" Don approached the bed slowly. He felt helpless. "Cailin, you can't give up. Sam doesn't want you to give up. You've survived this past week; you've come too far to give up now. I don't know what Sam will do if you give up. I don't know what I'll do if you stop fighting. You've always been a fighter; ever since we were kids. You've fought for whatever you believed in. Don't stop fighting now; not when I've realized how much you mean to me. Jen, I'm sorry about the whole beer thing. When you went missing, I thought I wasn't going to get the chance to apologize. Mac said that you've already forgiven me. He's says that it's because you're in love with me; that you always have been. At least for as long as he's known you, anyways. Jen, open your eyes and tell me you forgive me for being a jerk." Don held her hand as tears welled in his eyes.

"Don, sit down before you fall over." Mac came into the room. Don wasn't sure how long he'd been standing like that. Mac pulled a chair over and Don sat down. "How is she?"

"There's been no change." Don never took his eyes off her.

"Do the doctors have any idea why she's been unresponsive?" As soon as Mac asked, Doctor Hunter walked in.

"Dehydration, emotional trauma, malnutrition… It could be any number of things. My guess it is a combination of all of the above. She's also not running on adrenaline like she has been all week. Her body is getting the rest it needs." Aubrey checked the machines. "I'm hopeful that she'll make a full recovery." She laid a hand on Mac's arm and then smiled at Don.

"What about Samantha?" Mac asked.

"She should be released tomorrow. My guess is that, no matter what anyone tells her, she'll end up in this room after she's released."

"They've been inseparable since day one. Even though I worried about whether they'd survive or not, I'm not surprised that they did." Don said. He swept some strands of hair out of Jen's face. Aubrey pulled Mac out of the room. "Cailin, at least let me know you can hear me. Let me know that you know I'm here for you because I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be right here when you open your eyes because I love you." He choked on the word "love." It wasn't what he had planned to say but as soon as he said it he knew it was true. As he thought back through everything he and Jen had been through, he realized that a part of him had always loved her. "Jen Cailin McCallahan, I love you. Part of me always has; I just didn't realize it until now. Let me know you're still fighting, please." He really didn't expect anything but then he felt her squeeze his hand. He smiled. He watched her for about another hour before finally falling asleep.


End file.
